Enough
by cartersdaughter
Summary: Based on the last two or so minutes of the season finale. Also, Jared or Jensen had mentioned something in an interview about how they wanted season 11 to open. This is my combination of the two. The two of them had always been enough to deal with any situation that came their way.


**Enough:**

 **Disclaimer: As much as I love the characters of this show they do not belong to me in anyway shape or form except a few pieces of Hot Topic merchandise.**

 **AN: Thoughts on the season finale. They really shouldn't wait until October to air the premiere. Gives a person too much time to think.**

"Get in the car!"

Dean's first instinct was and always would be: to protect his little brother. Sam had told him the two of them would always be enough. And Dean wondered when he had begun to doubt that. Sam had stuck by him through all the craziness with the mark. His little brother had done nothing but try to safe him constantly through this entire year. Now it was Dean's turn to save. He could see Sam watching the rolling blackness combine and prepare to come nearer and nearer.

Sam was frozen his eyes glued to the roiling smoke like a pot boiling over. Fear and confusion were etched in the younger Winchester's face as though he was terrified of what was coming and attempting to figure it out at the same time.

Grabbing the arm of Sam's jacket, the older brother steered him toward the car. Once he was sure Sam was headed toward the passenger side, Dean sprinted toward the driver's side, "Let's go. Let's go." The elder Winchester made sure Sam was in the Impala with his door shut before climbing into the beautiful classic car himself. If Sam was safe, they could deal with whatever came later.

While it felt good to be back in Baby, Dean didn't take any time to dwell on it. Death had said the Darkness was bad, evil. Evil that had existed pre-God, pre-everything. The only thought in his mind right now was to get Sam as far away from whatever was coming as possible. Away from crazy purple lightning and plumes of smoke so thick and black it reminded him of the fire which had taken their mother so many years ago, or the demons that surged to take over the world after the incident at the devil's gate.

Mentally apologizing to his baby he slammed the key into the ignition and wrenched the car into reverse pushing down on the gas pedal with all the force he could muster, willing Baby to get them out of yet another presumably soon to be life or death situation. He knew they couldn't outrun this thing but maybe they could get a head start. Get far enough ahead that they could find a safe house or maybe even make it all the way back to the bunker. The faster they could get out of this driveway the more likely they could find somewhere to hole up and figure this whole thing out. Together like they always did.

Dean smashed his foot to the floor so hard it felt like it would go all the way through. He saw Sam's white-knuckled grip on the door handle. Taking his eyes from his brother, he returned them to the plumes of smoke coming together in an all encompassing mass. Then took a moment and glanced down to his own pale hands on the steering wheel. It was weird to actually feel cold trepidation and dread seep through every corner of his being after feeling the burn of the mark and slow smolder of anger for so long. The momentary distraction lasted just long enough for Dean's foot to nudge the gas pedal just a centimeter more to the floor. Just hard enough to send the car surging backward into a deep rut he had noticed on the way in. He had avoided the rut in the crappy little new car he had hijacked. He had hoped Sam would return the car to its owner like the good citizen his little brother was. But despite the fact he had been thinking using the mark; he still hadn't wanted to get such a new car dirty so he had avoided puddles.

This had been a good thing in hindsight, because the puddle wasn't just a puddle or just a rut. It was a full-blown hole in the ground. A hole which the Impala was rapidly sinking deeper into. Dean couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before. The Impala thudded into the hole with force enough to jerk both brothers back and forth. And the thunk was loud enough to make Dean cringe. Yep he'd definitely knocked something out of alignment. A brief look up told him now was not the time to worry about fixing Baby.

Sam was still recovering from the slight whiplash, rubbing the back of his neck all while keeping his eyes glued to the billowing darkness that continued to grow like the thunderhead before a tornado, something they'd become all too familiar with since moving back to Kansas.

It was Dean's job to get them out of here, and Baby's job to help him. He thrust the shifter back into drive, once again pummeling the gas pedal. His steel-toed boot pressing against the floor so hard he was sure the Impala was going to become the Flinstone's car. Dean could feel the terror creeping over his face like dripping ice water, and he was doing his best to hide that from Sam, looking back trying to analyze the situation with the back tire or attempting to figure out what the black mass hurtling toward them was.

Dean pressed his boot harder and harder on the gas, hearing the engine rev and knowing it wasn't making a difference. Baby was giving it a hundred and ten percent. But each time he pushed down, he could feel the car sinking deeper and deeper as though the ground was trying to trap them. To keep them from escaping the consequences of their choice. The choice of each other.

Glancing at the side-view mirror he could see sprays of dirty, muddy water streaming up from ground. Covering the Impala with nasty water to the point where she would need to be washed. It was now entrenched halfway up the tire and still sliding. It felt like the car was now tilting to one side.

Attempting to think like Sam, since his brother was too engrossed in the coming danger. Dean tried to logic his way through the situation and came to the only conclusion.

The darkness was speeding toward them like tidal waves during a tsunami. Picking up leaves and other debris, it was channeling the winds of a tornado. And Dean knew what he had to do. It was his job to save Sammy. How had he let some freakin' ancient tattoo lose sight of that? It was his job to take care of his little brother and get them both out of this mess. He had gotten them into it by accepting the mark, by becoming a demon, by summoning and killing death. And now he would get them out. First, by getting the car out of this damn sinkhole. Dean opened the door still keeping his foot firmly on the gas to give one last stab at maybe miraculously surging out of their predicament. He watched the tire spin fruitlessly against the water. Well, clearly Baby wasn't helping. It was up to Dean and Dean alone to fix this. He started to get out of the car, his torso and one foot already moving toward the crater.

"Dean."

All thoughts of helping the car were abandoned, the door swinging shut, when he heard the terrified crack in Sam's voice as his brother said his name. And if that hadn't changed his thoughts, the solid, nail digging into his jacket grip on his arm would have. Dean had been able to recognize all of Sam's mannerisms since the day his parents had brought the smiling baby home. He could hear the pure panic in Sam's voice. Feel the transparent fear in his grip. And nothing, nothing was going to stop him from making that go away. Getting a glimpse of his brother allowed Dean to not only see and feel every bit of Sam's horror but to see it as well. Sam's eyes were flooded with terror growing minutely larger for every inch closer the darkness came. Even though the older Winchester could see he still wanted to process exactly what was happening.

Dean could distinctly remember the few times in his life he had witnessed such all encompassing fear embody his little brother. Nightmares when he was little. His first hunt. And the only time he had ever felt such total distress and surrender from an adult Sam. Lucifer. Sam had grasped Dean's arm the exact same way when the Father of Hell had been released. Sam's voice had held the same amount of submission and foreboding for the situation. Sam's eyes had held the same unwavering terror-filled gaze, unwilling to look away even though the situation frightened him. And Dean had been right there next to him that time too. Unable to protect his little brother from the consequences of their choices. The consequences of being manipulated and played like pieces on a chess board. But they had survived that situation coming out the other side with only each other. They had made it through the apocalypse with each other. Now all they had left was each other and that was enough. They would have to make it through this the same way.

The darkness rolled and rumbled closer and closer taking out everything in its path, an avalanche racing toward them. Trees, fields, signs anything in the way was eliminated. Sam's grip tightened on his arm. And as he watched his own feelings of horror and dread growing in proportion to the dark cloud, he locked the door and braced himself against the steering wheel preparing for the worst, assuming the darkness would swallow them up like a funnel cloud and carry them wherever it deemed necessary. He peeked over to see Sam doing the same.

His little brother's right arm was out in front of him pressed firmly to the dashboard. His eyes still filled to the brim with the horror as if he had just seen a clown or Dean's death. His mouth hanging open in utter shock at what standing up for his brother had done. His back stuffed stiffly against the seat. His gaze never wavering from the roiling smoke which now instead of seeming like a wispy cloud, now appeared solid as a boulder or block of ice.

Sam's grip once again tightened on Dean's jacket as if to make sure his brother was not going to get out of the car. His eyes fixed in front of him. His body frozen, unmoving.

"DEAN!" The only part of Sam's body that moved was his mouth. First, frozen open in silent scream. Then the terror seeped through into his voice. Bleeding from Sam's eyes into the rest of his body: from his tense arms to his clenched jaw. Pure fear dripped from Sam's voice. But not only fear, expectation as well.

Expectation Dean would be able to fix the situation.

Despite knowing there was nothing his big brother could do, Sam's inherent first move was to call out his brother's name. His big brother had always been enough to save him from any situation he found himself in: from falling off his bike, to the first day of high school, to his demon blood addiction, and setting the devil free. His brother was the barrier between whatever danger presented itself and Sam. Dean could fix anything.

Dean wrapped his hand in the sleeve of his little brother's jacket just as he had that night in the convent. He might not be able to protect or save Sam from what was coming but he could be there. And that would have to be enough. Dean clamped down harder on Sam's arm, taking his other arm off the dashboard long enough to pull Sam's head down toward his shoulder. If he couldn't separate his brother from the danger, he could at least shield him from it.

Sam's arm came up again to brace himself against the dashboard. He felt like a baby with his head buried in his big brother's shoulder but he also felt safe. More secure than he had all year. Dean's torso covered his body their arms tightly woven together and the opposite arms were steeled against the dashboard, feet firmly planted in the foot-well. Without meaning to, Sam instinctively clamped his eyes shut against the danger once he was covered by Dean. If you couldn't see what was coming, it wasn't as dangerous right?

Dean ducked his head down on top of Sam's not only to shield Sam but to create more of an immovable object in the car. If they were intertwined together, they would be twice as hard to shift. Dean pressed himself close to his little brother so not only were their arms still clenched tightly in each other's jackets, their heads touched, and they were so close together they seemed to be one person instead of two. Dean could feel the darkness encase the car as though it was a giant hand intent on crushing and suffocating them. It blanketed the car cutting out all light and all sound everything except the thick, black smoke and roar of the wind. Dean wouldn't be surprised if Sam was having flashbacks to the tornados they had experienced or even to the fire at Stanford when all they could see was thick, black smoke and hear the roar of the flames. Just one more thing they would have to deal with when this was all over.

Dean curled closer into the steering wheel as the darkness shook the car. He didn't know what the inside of a funnel cloud felt like but now he was sure he could hazard a guess. He could sense Sam next to him folding down into the passenger foot-well. They kept the grips on each other's sleeve but tried to get themselves as far from the darkness as they could within the confined space of the car as the classic shook and rattled like the inside of a washing machine. Dean fortified himself even more against the car. Making himself as small as possible and as immovable as he could, assuming his brother was doing the same. Just because it felt like a washing machine didn't mean the elder Winchester wanted to be one of the socks trapped in the agitator. His eyes pressed tightly shut, not willing to see the destruction his and his brother's choices were bringing to the world again.

Then just as quickly as it had come the darkness was gone. Like a natural disaster it had dissipated leaving nothing but quiet and destruction in its wake.

Dean moved to untangle himself from Sam, shifting to be able to assess his little brother's condition both physical and emotional. "Come on Sam. It's all over." Not getting a response, he continued, shaking the sleeve still tightly clenched in his fist. "Sam enough's enough."

That's when he realized, the sleeve he was holding was empty. Sam was gone. The darkness had taken him. Dean had not fought hard enough to protect and keep his brother.

Now that the mark was gone, and all the emotion of the past year had hit him with all the force of freight train, Dean knew how much he cared for his brother. And he knew he would do everything in his power to get him back.

But where to start. The world was quiet, still, destroyed. And his little brother was who knew where, enduring who knew what.

They had always said the two of them together could conquer anything. Sam had said in the restaurant that the two of them together would always be enough. But now Dean was alone.

He knew it probably wouldn't help and wouldn't be nearly enough to get his brother back, but he needed to shatter the silence.

"SAM!"


End file.
